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60 favorite things about birthday girl Oprah

For nearly half her life, the Queen of Talk has been a major part of pop culture. First, it was as the larger-than-life host of her daytime talk show ("You get a car! You get a car!Everybody gets a car!"), and now, as OWN network head — or, as we like to think of her, Lindsay Lohan's boss.

In honor of O's special milestone, we thought we'd lift her own idea and present a list of our favorite things about the birthday girl...

1. She came from humble beginnings. The Mississippi native's dad was a barber; her mom was a maid.

2. She can talk to anyone.

3. She shares her wealth. Just one of her donations last year was a cool $12 million to the Smithsonian's African American museum.

4. She made book clubs cool. Though James Frey now probably wishes she hadn't...

5. She still plunges her own toilet. Think fellow billionaire Donald Trump does this?

6. She's a good friend. Step aside, Tina and Amy! Oprah and Gayle were our original favorite celeb bffs.

7. She's been candid about sharing her decades-long weight struggles.

8. She's not afraid to post makeup-free selfies.

9. She believes in second chances. That was good news for Lindsay Lohan.

10. She introduced us to Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray, Suze Orman, and Dr. Phil. And we're (mostly) thankful for that.

11. She has her own rules for romance. And never felt pressured to marry fiancé Stedman Graham to feel complete.

12. She's been honest about not wanting children. She's been open about her teen pregnancy and the fact that she never wanted to be a mother, which can be an unpopular position.

13. She's a strong supporter of women. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls just celebrated its eighth anniversary. She's had a few of the girls who were part of the first graduating class over for holidays and took them shopping (at Bed, Bath, and Beyond!) before they headed to college.

14. She showed us the real Tom Cruise. You know — the one who likes to jump on chairs.

15. She likes to give away free stuff. All the daytime talk shows hand out freebies these days, but it started with O's "big, big, big" giveaways.

16. Her "Oprah's Favorite Things" list still makes us drool. It was always fun to watch on her show (cue the screaming audience members), but we still want one of everything on the list now that it's only in print and online.

17. She scream-says celebrities' names in a way that's adddddicting.

18. She introduced us to the "aha moment."

19. She hates exercising as much as we do. But she too knows that you feel great when you're done.

20. She's a huge dog lover.

21. She helped bring together Letterman and Leno. No easy feat.

22. She scores the best interviews. Lance Armstrong, Lindsay Lohan, and many other biggies all ended up in her chair — and knew they would get a fair shake.

23. She knows how to strike a pose.

24. She embraces her spiritual side. While we don't catch every Super Soul Sunday or Lifeclass, we appreciated how she's long tried to get her viewers to connect with their spiritual sides, meditate, and use other tools to become the best versions of themselves.

25. She bastes her own turkey on Thanksgiving. We don't think Donald Trump does that either.

26. Her magazine is beautiful. Like … tear out the pages, gaze at them, study them, repeat.

27. She's loyal. She's had the same staff for years. Hairstylist Andre Walker has been managing her mane since 1985.

28. She's done it all with that hair. From braids to a big ole afro, she's not afraid to experiment.

29. Her road trip with Gayle remains some of the best TV ever. The good, the bad, we enjoyed it all.

30. She was able to get Tina Turner out of retirement. And her fangirling over the singer is, well, "Simply the Best."

31. She's friends with everyone. From the late Nelson Mandela and Maya Angelou to Tyler Perry and Maria Shriver.

32. She's a farmer. On her Maui estate, 16 acres are devoted to farming with over 100 species of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

33. She had a yard sale. Then she gave the $600,000 profits to charity.

34. She admits her failures. Remember how bad the first year of OWN was? So does she.

35. She's a really good actress. And the Academy Award nominee for her performance in "The Color Purple" isn't all in our faces about it.

36. She still gets excited over meeting certain celebs. Most recently? Mick Jagger.

37. She didn't go easy on Lance Armstrong.

38. The Obamas take her calls. In fact, she just had the first lady as a houseguest.

39. Make that presidents. She's in with the former leaders of the free world, too.

40. She loves Stedman … and so do we. We're not sure if it's how she says his name or how he stands to the side and always quietly supports her, but we are totally Team Stedman.

42. She has a strong work ethic. Seriously … at this point she could just lay around counting her money, but instead she's hustling.

43. She shows genuine emotion. We'll never forget when she had her long-lost half-sister on her talk show.

44. She picks her own flowers. We would give anything to stroll through the gardens of her Montecito, California, manse picking flowers with her. And we love that she shares extras with neighbors (like Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi) — or brings them to interviewees (like Fergie).

45. She's not afraid of a #TBT photo.

46. She's a hugger. And she looks like she's great at it.

47. She named her production company, Harpo, after … herself.

48. She forgives. She made amends with James Frey, Iyanla Vanzant, David Letterman, and others.

49. She wheeled out 67 pounds of fat on stage to represent her weight loss. It was an unforgettable TV moment, but also another genuine moment she shared over the course of her long-time weight loss battle.

50. She has her own "effect." Her endorsement can bestow instant success on any author, entertainer, self-help guru, product, store (like Graeter's ice cream in Cincinnati) — better known as "The Oprah Effect."

51. Her response to those lesbian rumors was perfect. "I'm not a lesbian ... I'm not even kind of a lesbian," she's said. "The reason why it irritates me is because it means that somebody must think I'm lying. That's number one. Number two ... why would you want to hide it? That is not the way I run my life."

52. She's not above posing with a fan … which she has even done in rollers.

53. She was demoted from one of her first TV jobs. Hmm … we wonder what that Baltimore station news director is doing now.

54. She loves pajamas. Sometimes she stays in them all day. Sometimes she wears them on TV. Sometimes she posts pics of herself in them on Instagram.

55. She lets her dogs sleep in her bed. We couldn't resist them either.

56. She's still an optimist. After all these years, she still tries to see the good in people. Again, see: Lindsay Lohan.

57. She takes photos of herself at her annual physical to remind people to go to the doctor. And that's not typically a moment you want to share with the world. Those gowns!?

58. She canceled her 60th birthday bash. The guest list became a hassle, so she decided to scrap the whole thing.

59. She celebrated 60 at SoulCycle. She skipped the party but gathered her closest friends for a heart-pumping spin class.

60. And ... that there are so many things we like about Oprah that we were able to come up with a list of 60. Can't say that for many celebrities.